Lobbyist Cites Hospitalized Children In Call For Mask Mandate; They Are 3% Of COVID Hospitalizations

Hospital officials and lobbyists that represent them have been making comments about COVID-19 that have not been backed up by the data.

A recent example is the leader of a health department lobbying group that wants the state to issue a statewide mask mandate. Norm Hess, executive director of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health, asked for the mandate in a letter he sent to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

“This is no longer a local situation,” Hess wrote, according to the news site MIRS. “The Delta variant is affecting people of all ages in every county of the state. Our hospitals are rapidly filling or are full, and this time it includes a significant population of children.”

On Sept. 24, there were 27 people 17-and-under in hospitals statewide with confirmed COVID. People under 17 make up 3% of all COVID hospitalizations. Hospitalizations for COVID as of Sept. 24 are still about one-third what they were in previous waves. As of Sept. 27, there were a total of 24 pediatric hospitalization cases that had been confirmed to have COVID-19 in Michigan.